Following on from a hugely popular first week, the second edition of new Fringe cabaret – AJ Bell Fringe on Friday – is being livestreamed on Friday 14 August at 9pm, with special performances from Abandoman, Fern Brady, Reuben Kaye, Travis Jay, Alfie Ordinary, Craig Hill, Alice Rabbit, Sadia Azmat, Rachel Fairburn and Laurie Black.
This 60-minute Fringe variety show is hosted by comedian Jayde Adams and has been made possible thanks to the generous support of online investment platform AJ Bell. Tickets for the broadcast cost £9 (£1 less than the price of an average Fringe ticket), with every penny raised going to Fringe artists and venues.
They are available to buy at crowdfund.edfringe.com/fringe-on-friday. The broadcast from Friday 14 August will be available to watch online until Monday 17 August.
Further editions will run on 21 and 28 August, with Nigel Ng and Courtney Act set to host. The final lineup for each show will be confirmed weekly, the Wednesday before broadcast.
Jayde Adams, Comedian and Fringe on Friday host, said: “I’m delighted to be hosting the second AJ Bell Fringe on Friday show. I’ve experienced how valuable the Fringe can be for an artist’s career, from my Best Newcomer nomination back in 2016, to releasing last year’s show as a comedy special and I’m excited to bring some of that Fringe energy we’ll all be missing so much this summer.
“This is a great way to keep supporting the wonderful artists and venues that come together each August, so get behind your favourites on FringeMakers and enjoy the show.”
About AJ Bell Fringe on Friday
AJ Bell Fringe on Friday is a key part of the FringeMakers campaign, a Fringe-wide fundraising initiative that has been developed in partnership with Crowdfunder. This new, zero-fee platform is designed to help Fringe artists and venues raise vital funds in the absence of a physical festival in 2020.
Artists and venues keep 100% of the proceeds from tickets they sell, plus any donations made to their own campaigns. You can find more detail – including a range of artist and venue fundraising campaigns – by visiting the FringeMakers website here.
The broadcast has been brought to life by Scotland-based cultural producers Lucky Cat and Michael Fraser, and production company Inner Ear.
About the acts
Abandoman: Welcome to the world of Ireland’s finest hip hop musical comedian, Rob Broderick, a.k.a. Abandoman. Using his trademark blend of audience interaction and razor-sharp improvisation, Abandoman will take you on a magical journey, transforming the audience’s likes, loathes and daydreams into hit songs and captivating tales.
Abandoman has previously won Hackney Empire New Act of the Year, Best Comedy Newcomer at the Adelaide Fringe, headlined comedy stages at Glastonbury, Latitude, Reading and Leeds, performed in the house band for Alan Carr’s Happy Hour on Channel 4 alongside Craig David, played the part of Dictionary Corner in 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, as well as supported and toured with pop behemoth Ed Sheeran.
Alfie Ordinary: Brighton based Drag Prince Alfie Ordinary made his Edinburgh Fringe debut in 2019 with his International award winning solo show ‘Help! I Think I Might Be Fabulous’. His sold out run was an instant Edinburgh hit and even Sir Ian McKellen himself visited Gilded Balloon’s Attic Theatre to see the “Deliberately daft origin story” – The Scotsman.
Craig Hill: One of Scotland’s best-loved comedians and hosts, Craig is an alumni of 20 consecutive Edinburgh Festival Fringes. A winner of the Radio Forth Fringe Award, his extensive sell-out UK and worldwide tours include annual comedy festival seasons in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
He has performed at London’s Palladium, hosted a specially created alternative variety show Craig Hill’s Forbidden Vaudeville for Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and was UK Ambassador for the Montreaux Comedy Festival’s Joke Nation.
He has numerous BBC TV series to his name and international TV credits include Australia’s Good News Week, hosting Sydney Comedy Festival’s prestigious Cracker Night gala and hosting the all-star Britcom lineup as well as starring on The Best Of Just For Laughs in Montreal.
Having started his career working in the box office of an Edinburgh fringe venue, each August he looks forward to performing his shows and meeting fans and finding new things to see – the Fringe is something Craig holds very dear.
Fern Brady: Known for being totally unique and completely fearless, her caustic wit, exceptional writing and electric stage craft has made Fern one of the UK’s hottest comedy stars. As seen on Live from the BBC, Live from the Comedy Store, The Russell Howard Hour, and Live at the Apollo.
Featured in Vogue as one of the Top 5 Female Comedians as well as the Telegraphs top 5 young comedians to watch, Fern’s career has gone stratospheric in the last 18 months. She’s had viral success with her BBC Life Lessons, stormed the Australian comedy scene and supported Frankie Boyle and Katherine Ryan on Tour.
Jayde Adams – Award-winning comedian and proud Bristolian Jayde Adams is an uncut gem; a force of nature; dangerous and unafraid; the future.. it’s safe to say that when Dawn French says “Jayde Adams is the 3rd funniest woman in the world. Fact,” she might just be onto something.
Jayde’s debut Edinburgh Fringe hour Jayde 31 was nominated for Best Newcomer in 2016, whilst her hugely successful, critically acclaimed 5 star Edinburgh Fringe show ‘The Ballad of Kylie Jenner’s Old Face’ was filmed and released worldwide on Amazon Prime and was renamed Serious Black Jumper.
A regular on our screens, Jayde is the host of Channel 4’s brand new, high-concept food show Crazy Delicious, and the co-host of the channel’s culinary entertainment series Snackmasters, while she brought her cult live musical comedy show Amusical to the screen for the very first time for Comedy Central.
Jayde has featured as a guest on CelebAbility (ITV2) Strictly It Takes Two (BBC Two), Roast Battle, Live At The Comedy Store, The Chris Ramsay Show (Comedy Central), 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Channel 4), 8 Out of 10 Cats (E4), Dara O’Briain’s Go 8 Bit (Dave), Good Omens (Amazon Prime), and Russell Brand’s Stand Off for Comic Relief (BBC).
Laurie Black: “Cabaret queen” [EdFest Mag] Laurie Black has been performing at Edinburgh Festival Fringe since 2014. She debuted her first show Bad Luck Cabaret in The Famous Spiegeltent 2016 and in 2019 presented her first solo hour, the award-winning Space Cadette. In the interim she’s performed at Fringe Festivals around the world including Adelaide, Perth, Brighton and Reykjavik.
With her unique blend of synthrock and musical comedy, 2020 was set for Laurie’s new show Mockstar, which given the new direction of the world has been shelved for another day. In lockdown, she learnt a new instrument and has started working on a new show about robots.. maybe you can see it next year (or if not, at least stream it on a VR headset). Laurie releases exclusive content on her patreon page and has written this brand new song for Edinburgh Fringe lovers the galaxy over.
Rachel Fairburn: Rachel Fairburn is a comedian and writer from Manchester. Now based in London, Rachel featured in Chortle’s ‘One to Watch’ list in 2020 and picked up the 2019 online content award from Joe.co.uk . She has also been a finalist of several prestigious competitions including Funny Women, City Life Comedian of the Year, the NATYS and English Comedian of the Year.
Rachel is co-host and co-writer of the worldwide smash hit podcast All Killa No Filla. With a huge international following of over a quarter of a million listeners and growing, she has taken the podcast on several sell-out UK tours and a recent tour of the USA.
She has been a staple of the Edinburgh Fringe since 2014, with 5 critically acclaimed solo shows under her belt and featured in the ‘40 jokes of the fringe’ by the Daily Telegraph in 2018. A regular on the UK stand-up circuit, Rachel is also curator and host of the wildly popular ‘Comedian’s Stories’ night at the 2Northdown comedy club in London.
Reuben Kaye: Imagine if Joan Collins, Tim Curry and Meow Meow all dropped a stack of narcotics and had an orgy… Now roll it in jewels and bathtub gin and you’re halfway there.
After appearances on Channel 4 and on BBC’s You’re Fired, multi-award winning, Australian Cabaret artist and self proclaimed part-time hood ornament Reuben Kaye is the danger man to watch.
With an acid wit and casual sensationalism that is simply delicious, Kaye is fast, on the edge and brutally funny. a dazzling phantasm of anachronistic showbiz – an explosion of sequins, lashes and teeth, a much needed, hysterically funny, swarovski studded revolt against the ever narrowing views of an increasingly conservative world. Reuben Kaye is what happens when you tell your children they can be anything.
Kaye’s own brand of melodramatic showmanship has wowed audiences and critics around the globe. Performing in some of the biggest theatres in Europe and Australia, this glamorous, anarchic creation has been feted as “THE QUINTESSENTIAL CABARET PERFORMER” (Herald Sun).
Kaye’s delivery is flawless as he seamlessly blends lavish storytelling into gilded song, incorporating an impressive repertoire that ranges from Kurt Weill to Kate Bush, regularly punctuating his monologue with rich cultural critique.
Reuben has enjoyed residencies at London’s historic Savoy Hotel, The Rosewood Hotel and at London’s West End home of cabaret, the famous Cafe de Paris, as well as continuing to perform at The Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Melbourne Comedy Festival, Adelaide & Perth Fringe Festivals while still travelling to perform in Berlin’s Wintergarten, Tipi Am Kanzleramt, Ohh La La Cherie in Zurich, Cabaret Lune Noir in Bern, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg State Opera, the Royal Albert Hall in London, The Savoy Theatre in Helsinki, and the famous Södra Theatre in Stockholm, to name a few.
Sadia Azmat: Sadia Azmat is a British Asian comedian from London tackling sex, relationships and identity in her no holds barred style. Host of critically acclaimed podcast BBC Sounds No Country For Young Women – nominated best new podcast British Podcast Awards 2019 presenter BBC Radio 2 ‘My Single Life’.
As seen on Netflix, BBC 1, BBC Three, Channel 4. ‘Wonderfully subversive comedy’ Steve Bennett. ‘A very funny and promising new comedian’ Mark Lawson, BBC Radio 4. ‘Hilarious and insightful take on what it’s like to be a young Muslim woman’ Christina Lamb, Sunday Times
Travis Jay: Nominated for The Leicester Mercury Comedian of the year in 2016, Travis Jay is a stand-up comedian, actor and radio presenter.
In 2017 Travis Jay closed the year out performing to a sold out crowd at the famous West End Palladium Theatre as part of the U Got Jokes Comedy show, with his performance receiving particularly high acclaim. Travis continues to go from strength to strength, in 2018 performing alongside his hero Dave Chappelle in a filmed production ‘Dave Chappelle and Friends’ Directed by Stan Lathan.
He has since supported Chappelle on tour in London and supported comedian Kojo Anim on his UK tour in early 2020.
In 2019 Travis Jay made his Edinburgh debut with his show ‘Funny, Petty, Cool’ which received critical acclaim. He is also the creator and co-presenter of the popular weekly boxing podcast Undefeated, with fellow comedian KG tha Comedian.
